Her registered ownership changed in 1939, when she was acquired by the Union Cold Storage Company of Liverpool but continued to be managed by the Blue Star Line.

[1][2][3][4][5] Under the command of Kapitän zur See Hans Langsdorff, Admiral Graf Spee sailed from Wilhelmshaven on 21 August 1939, bound for the South Atlantic.

[1][2][3][4] Initially the sortie was successful, with Graf Spee intercepting and sinking ships across the South Atlantic before making her way into the southern Indian Ocean.

Carrying 8,000 tons of cargo, primarily meat and dairy produce, Doric Star was armed with a 4-inch gun mounted aft to provide a limited self-defence.

At the time, the standard operating procedure of Kapitän Langsdorff was to approach his quarry head on, at maximum speed and to fly the French Ensign.

The crew of the Doric Star learned of the proximity of the Graf Spee when a small piece of shell landed on her forward deck.

Captain Stubbs, having arrived on the bridge, sighted what he thought was the masthead of a warship in the distance and ordered the signal R-R-R (I am being attacked by a raider) to be sent by the ship's Wireless Officer, William Comber.

That resulted in Doric Star amplifying her distress call and identifying the raider as the Graf Spee or possibly the Deutschland, which had been disguised to look roughly like the Repulse or Renown.

However, a technical fault with the Arado Ar 196 forced Langsdorff to curtail the actions of the boarding party, which meant that it failed to discover the cargo of refrigerated meat.